harbor seals

If you see a seal on the beach, call the Seacoast Science Center Marine Mammal Rescue hotline at 603-997-9448
Rye, NH — Harbor seals bear their young during the months of May and June. As a result, the chance of seeing seals on our beaches, more specifically seal pups, increases. If you see a seal

The Seacoast Science Center is widely known for on-site tide-pooling field trips but naturalists from the Center also bring educational programs out into the community. Recently, SSC Marine Mammal Rescue team leader Ashley Stokes visited St. Michael Parish School in Lowell, MA and presented information about marine mammals to students in grades 2 and

The Seacoast Science Center partnered with the New England Aquarium to host the annual Greater Atlantic Regional Stranding Conference in Hull, MA. The conference was held at the Nantasket Beach Resort from October 10-13, 2017. A hundred and fifteen people attended the conference from Maine to Virginia to learn about the new techniques and

Yesterday, our team responded to a female harbor seal weanling (approximately 5 months old) in our own back yard—a few hundred yards from the Center, on the shore of Odiorne Point State Park. She was thin, alert and responsive, and clearly suffering from a severe mouth wound. It’s hard to say at this time what

On Sunday, October 8, our team responded to this female weanling harbor seal at Hampton Beach State Park near the jetty. It had good body weight and was alert and responsive, but had micro-abscesses along it’s body and discharge from the eyes. The team was planning on collecting this seal for rehabilitation with our friends

We had a great crew of 60 people aboard Newburyport Whale Watch’s Captain’s Lady III for our 3rd annual Save the Seals River Cruise on Saturday October 7th. Many thanks to our sponsors for the event: Newburyport Whale Watch, Blue Ocean Event Center and Merrimack Valley Events by Simply Elegant Catering.
Marine Mammal Rescue Team

Our MMR Team assists NOAA Marine Fisheries in responding to the northern MA coast. Below is a live female weanling harbor seal at Salisbury Reservation. The plan was to take her down to our friends at National Marine Life Center for rehabilitation, but shortly after transport began, she crashed quickly. She was taken to New

We continue to be busy, as weanling season is in full swing! Some of these weanlings are staying only a short time on the beach; others are coming back every morning and night but leaving through the busiest part of the day. With rehabilitation facilities still at capacity (they hope to open a few spots

Wow, what a marathon weekend and start to the week we just had! With both rehab facilities still at capacity, we are being very diligent with monitoring animals to keep the public and the animal at a safe distance from one another. We are also relocating when necessary. In addition to staff time, our amazing

This past week two of our staff members made the trek by boat out to Star Island (Isles of Shoals) to train a few of their staff members how to respond to marine mammals, since we can’t easily dispatch a team member when we get a report out there! That training came at the perfect